Avacta Group (AIM:AVCT) has reported that patients with salivary gland cancer treated with faridoxorubicin (AVA6000) achieved a median progression-free survival (PFS) of 11.4 months, nearly double the 6 to 6.7 months seen in published historical benchmarks for similar treatment lines.
The London-headquartered clinical-stage life sciences company, which develops targeted peptide drug conjugates (PDCs) for oncology, presented the data from its ongoing Phase 1a/1b trial of faridoxorubicin at the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) Congress in Madrid, running from 23 to 27 October.
Faridoxorubicin is Avacta's first-generation pre|CISION platform drug, designed to release a doxorubicin payload directly inside tumours via the fibroblast activation protein (FAP), limiting the systemic toxicity that has constrained conventional chemotherapy and antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs).
In the reported efficacy subset of 32 salivary gland cancer patients treated at doses of 310 mg/m2 or above, the median PFS of 11.4 months carried a 95% confidence interval of 7 months to not reached, with median overall survival also not yet reached.
Three confirmed partial responses and six minor responses were recorded, with durations ranging from 18.7 to 72 weeks, while biopsy data showed a 100:1 tumour-to-plasma concentration ratio for released doxorubicin, producing tumour reductions even at low FAP expression levels.
Imaging using FAP inhibitor-positron emission tomography (FAPI-PET), paired with pharmacokinetic data, showed FAP expression persisting in tumours over time, sustaining doxorubicin release beyond 10 cycles of therapy; plasma studies out to 12 cycles confirmed this cleavage activity remained stable.
"Our two datasets presented at ESMO demonstrate that our pre|CISION platform is capable of delivering highly potent payloads to tumors over prolonged periods with sustained antitumor activity observed in patients and preclinical models," said chief executive Christina Coughlin, adding that the activity occurs "without the toxicity that limits the effectiveness of antibody-drug conjugates."
Coughlin linked the finding to new preclinical data on AVA6103, Avacta's Next Generation controlled-release PDC candidate, also presented at ESMO, which she said shows tumours recruit new FAP-positive fibroblasts during treatment, sustaining the tumour's capacity to continue cleaving pre|CISION drugs as they shrink.
Read more about Avacta
- 14/10/26Avacta to present salivary gland cancer survival data at ESMO congress
- 25/06/26FDA clears single pivotal trial path for Avacta's AVA6000 in salivary gland cancer
- 01/06/26Avacta reports positive results in salivary gland cancer research
Avacta's FOCUS-01 Phase 1 trial of AVA6103 has already reported clinical proof of mechanism across its first three dose levels in 19 patients, with no neutropenia observed against rates of 22% on comparable Enhertu doses and 64% on equivalent conventional exatecan doses, and dosing has since progressed to a fourth dose level.
Alan Ho of Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, senior author of the ESMO presentation, said the faridoxorubicin results are "promising", citing "evidence of disease control in this rare set of diseases for which effective therapies are lacking" and calling the enhanced FAP expression shown in the FAPI-PET data "unique pharmacodynamic data."
Data sets for faridoxorubicin's other two Phase 1b expansion indications, soft tissue sarcoma and triple-negative breast cancer, continue to mature.
Avacta expects to report tumour pharmacokinetic and cleavage-durability data for AVA6103 in late 2026, with first efficacy data due in the first half of 2027.